ACC names top 50 football players

Eight Seminoles selected to list

However, he still looks like he can put on a helmet and shoulder pads, run over an offensive lineman and sack a quarterback.

Same for Terry Kinard, who is at the same playing weight as when he was an All-American defensive back for Clemson in 1981-82.

White, regarded as one of the best players in Atlantic Coast Conference history when he played defensive tackle for Maryland in the early 1970s, and Kinard were among a group of eight players who were honored in person as part of the Atlantic Coast Conference's 50-year anniversary team.

The list, as selected by a 120-member blue ribbon committee, was announced Tuesday and is the first of 29 such teams the league will have as part of the conference's anniversary celebration.

"When guys win these types of awards it's not by accident," Kinard said when asked about the fitness of the group.

"As a player, whether you were on the field or are finished playing, you have a little pride in yourself and you're going to take that with you."

Kinard, who was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 2001, regards the ACC honor as among his most cherished.

"To think back, there have been a lot of good football players that have gone through the ACC," said Kinard, a star on Clemson's 1981 national title team.

"There are a lot of good football players who are not on this list. To be one of the 50 of the many thousands and thousands of guys who have played in the ACC is a tremendous honor. This ranks high."

The league released the team by alphabetical order, but many believe White was one of the top two or three players in ACC history along with Florida State's Charlie Ward and Chris Weinke, North Carolina's Lawrence Taylor and N.C. State's Ted Brown.

White was a two-time All-American for the Terrapins and was a perennial All-Pro for the Dallas Cowboys in the NFL from 1975-88.

At 49, White has all of his hair, including a pony tail, and is still in good physical shape.

"Obviously, I can't do what I did at 29, and every once in a while your age creeps up on you," said White, who owns a barbecue restaurant outside Dallas.

"I'm pretty lucky, but if you sit around and don't do anything you're more apt to have more problems."

White said he never thought about his domination of other players when he lined up on the defensive front.

"I never let myself think about it. I was always looking ahead. I never slowed down to pat myself on the back.

"I was always motivated by fear of not succeeding. It's the kind of fear of embarrassing yourself and not being prepared."

White found out about the 50-year team about a week ago.

"Sitting here today and somebody says you're the best player to ever play, I'll be honest with you, it makes you feel good. This is a great honor for me.

"It makes you feel that people appreciated and respected what I did when I was at Maryland," White said.

"When I was at Maryland something like this was the last thing on my mind. I was just trying to survive every week and play as hard as I could."

The 50-team unit will be honored Dec. 2 at the league's annual all-conference football banquet in Atlanta.

Clemson had the most players on the team with nine.Florida State and North Carolina tied for second-most with eight.

Ward and Weinke, both FSU quarterbacks, are the only players in ACC history to win the Heisman Trophy, symbolic of the nation's best college player.

"Each Sunday during the NFL season you are reminded of the talent in the ACC because you are going against the same guys that you did in college," said Weinke, who is now a quarterback for the Carolina Panthers.

"I'll never forget the four years I spent at Florida State playing in the ACC and I'll always remember those as some of the best times of my life."

ACC commissioner John Swofford said the committee talked about ranking the top 50 players, but voted against it.

"They felt with the different eras it would almost be impossible to truly rank players 1-50 and we really wouldn't gain a whole lot by doing that," he said.

"The honor should be one of being on the top 50 team, whether you were first or 50th."